Monday, November 1, 2010

Religious Rites in my Family

Religion has played a major part in my life and in the lives of my family and ancestors. Throughout my 35+ year mission of tracing my family history I have discovered diversities of faiths and church affiliations but a definite pattern of religious lives.

Dating back to the 1600's in Bavaria, my paternal Bauer and Feucht ancestors were definitely of the Evangelical Lutheran faith and continued that pattern when arriving in the US. Once in Detroit, they attended Trinity Lutheran Church (now Historic Trinity) and my great-great grandparents, Johann Jacob Feucht and Magdalena Helena Bauer were one of the first couples married in that church on February 20, 1859. All of their children were baptized and confirmed at Trinity as well.

My paternal Schulte family from Beckum, Westphalia, Germany were of the Catholic faith while in Germany, and according to records found from those years, they were members of St. Stephanus Catholic Church. There still remains a church in Beckum with that name, and whether that is the same parish that served my Schulte ancestors, I don't know. Upon arriving in the US, though, some of the family switched to following the Lutheran faith while others remained Catholic.

My paternal Wellhausen/Schluessler family, with information that I have found dating back to the early 1700's, continually practiced the Evangelical Lutheran faith while in Germany and continued that when arriving in this country.

On my mother's side, we also had a diversity of faiths. My mother's paternal line were Polish and Roman Catholic and continued that in this country. Her maternal line, from Bütow, Pommern, were Evangelical Lutheran and remain that to this day.

Here are some examples of my family members during their various confirmations, with one baptismal example as well.

My paternal grandfather, Elmer M. Schulte, was born on August 4, 1894 in Detroit, MI. Here he is at his baptism in his Lutheran church later that same year.

Elmer SchulteBaptism - 1894Detroit, MI

My paternal grandmother, Ella A. Wellhausen, was born on November 15, 1896 in Detroit and was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in Fraser, MI.

Ella WellhausenConfirmationFraser, MI

My maternal grandfather, Joseph Kijak, was born on August 3, 1892 in Bay City, MI and was baptized as a Catholic at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, also in Bay City. After marrying my grandmother, he took confirmation lessons to become Lutheran and was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Joseph, MI as an adult on March 26, 1920.

Joseph KijakConfirmation - 1920St. Joseph, MI

My maternal grandmother, Ella A. Kolberg, was born on August 8, 1895 in Stevensville, MI and was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.

Ella KolbergConfirmationSt. Joseph, MI

My maternal grandparents raised their 4 children in the Lutheran faith, all were baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, MI where my mother and I still belong. I am the 5th generation of my mother's family to have been a member of this particular congregation. My mother was confirmed at this church in 1939 and she organized a 60 year reunion of her confirmation class in 1999 where many attended from around the country.

Eloris KijakConfirmation - 1939St. Joseph, MI

My paternal grandparents raised their 3 children in the Lutheran faith as well and attended both First English Lutheran Church in Detroit and later Mt. Zion Lutheran also in Detroit. First English has now relocated to Grosse Pointe, MI and Mt. Zion was disbanded some years ago. My uncle and my aunt are shown here at their respective confirmations.

My father, also, was confirmed at First English Lutheran Church in Detroit. I do not have an individual confirmation photo of his but do have this fantastic group photo of his entire class including the minister. This always draws a laugh when I see the photo because of the "unique" expression on my father's face. Take a look and see if you can pick him out of this group.

Confirmation Class of 1937First English Lutheran ChurchDetroit, MI

Mylen SchulteBottom row, far right

That's right, he is indeed the young boy in the bottom row on the far right. Guess he wasn't having a good day that day. I would bet he wanted to get home and listen to the Tigers on the radio!

About Me

Intent of this Blog

This is an ongoing history of my German and Polish ancestors, their lives and the factors that caused them to "cross the ocean" to create new lives in America!

Why My Family History?

When did my quest for searching my ancestry begin? The earliest I can remember is when my paternal grandmother gave me a black onyx ring with a tiny diamond in the center. She told me that the diamond had come from one of the three tiny diamonds in her wedding pendant from 1917. The necklace had been broken over the years and she subsequently took the 3 diamonds out and had them made into rings. I remember quizzing her on her parents and grandparents and there was no turning back. Now many years later I am still searching and learning; once bitten by the genealogy bug there is no stopping. And the search goes on and on............

Explanation of Blog Header

The header (above) that appears on this blog was created after much deliberation as to how to adequately depict the focus and theme of "Two Sides of the Ocean".

With this header, you will see images of a lighthouse and harbor area which is reminiscent of the lighthouse in southwest Michigan where two lines of my family immigrated to. There are two photos included from Germany including one showing the village of Schwarzenbach by Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany where my Bauer family originated and a photo of the Evangelical Church of Gross Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern where my Kolberg and Kramp families originated.

The 4 photos in the center are of my 4 great-grandmothers, namely Amelia (Schluessler) Wellhausen, Mary (Rubis) Kijak, Bertha (Kramp) Kolberg and Juliane (Feucht) Schulte. Two of these great-grandmothers were born on "this" side of the ocean while the other two were born on the "other" side of the ocean.

Photos in Blog

All photos in this blog are created so that the reader may click on the photo to enlarge.

All photos are either from my own collection, photos that I have personally taken or photos that I have permission to use.